Benelux
History In 1947 the German Democratic Republic was formed, this made the rest of Europe most uneasy; domestic unrest in France alongside an expansive Soviet Union pushed the King of Belgium, the Queen of the Netherlands and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg to meet at Antwerp in what would become known as the “Meeting of the Three Crowns”. At this conference it was decided that these nations had suffered too much at the hands of other nation’s aggression in the past and that the only way that they would survive should another war break out in Europe would be if their three countries joined together into the “Kingdom of Benelux”, this would be a Federal system that would give the three nations a degree of domestic autonomy with each Royal remaining the head of state in their respective Kingdom or Duchy and a Prime Minister would be elected to govern the entire Kingdom, laws passed would require the signature of each of the Monarchs and its official languages would be Dutch, French, Luxembourgish and German. The Duchy of Luxembourg was expanded to include the Saarland and Trier when it joined the Kingdom of Benelux in 1951. The country received generous amounts of Marshall Aid and became an economic powerhouse, filling the gap left in the European Economy that the loss of a Capitalist Germany had left. The Belgian Congo was given its independence in 1946, and Indonesia was let go in 1949 – a range of overseas departments were established in the Beneluxian Antilles, Suriname and Aruba. As the country regained its economic stability it was decided that a strong military had to be established, in co-operation with the French government a strong system of defences were built up on the boarder with the GDR. Government The Beneluxian government is based upon a Federal system. It gives the three nations a degree of domestic autonomy with each Royal remaining the head of state in their respective Kingdom or Duchy. The current Heads of State are: King Albert II (Belgium), Queen Beatrix (Netherlands) and Grand Duke Henri (Luxembourg). The Prime Minister is elected to govern the entire Kingdom. The current Prime Minister is Christiaan Huygens.. Laws passed require the signature of each of the Monarchs. Official languages are Dutch, French, Luxembourgish and German; making paperwork a nightmare. The seat of government is located in The Hague, in the former Netherlands. The Netherlands maintained Amsterdam as a capital due to a clause in the Dutch constitution. Because sufficient infrastructure for governance was located in The Hague it was selected as the new seat of government for the combined nation. Additionally, the new nation voided the Dutch constitution and allowed for The Hague to be selected as the new capital for the Kingdom of Benelux. Cabinet The Cabinet is lead by the Prime Minister. Under him are a series of Minsters responsible for their own department of the government. Beneath the Ministers are the Staatssecretaris who are responsible for mid-level decisions concerning their Ministry, they assist the Ministers with their briefs. Ministers Staatssecretaris